Blizzard Entertainment Announces Staff Reductions

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Blizzard Entertainment,
Inc. today announced that it has conducted a review of its
business based on current organizational needs. Following a
completion of the review, the company is conducting a global
reduction in workforce of approximately 600 employees. The company
anticipates approximately 90% of the affected employees will come
from departments not related to game development. The
World of Warcraft®development team will not be impacted.

"Constant evaluation of teams and processes is necessary for the
long-term health of any business. Over the last several years,
we've grown our organization tremendously and made large
investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our
global community. However, as Blizzard and the industry have
evolved we've also had to make some difficult decisions in order to
address the changing needs of our company," said Mike
Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment.
"Knowing that, it still does not make letting go of some of our
team members any easier. We're grateful to have had the opportunity
to work with the people impacted by today's announcement, we're
proud of the contributions they made here at Blizzard, and we wish
them well as they move forward."

Blizzard's current development and publishing schedules will not
be impacted. The company will announce specific release plans
for
Diablo® III in the near future, and it's continuing to
drive aggressively toward beta testing for
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria™, Blizzard DOTA, and
StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™. Blizzard also remains committed to maintaining its
high standards of quality for customer service delivery. In
addition, Blizzard is still recruiting and looking to hire
qualified developers for a number of open positions. Further
details are available at
http://jobs.blizzard.com.

The accounting charges associated with Blizzard's reduction in
workforce are not anticipated to be material to Activision
Blizzard, Inc. and were included in the 2012 financial outlook
that was provided on February 9, 2012.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Best known for blockbuster hits including
World of Warcraft® and the
Warcraft®,
StarCraft®, and
Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment,
Inc. (
www.blizzard.com), a division
of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier
developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for
creating some of the industry's most critically acclaimed games.
Blizzard Entertainment's track record includes thirteen #1-selling
games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's
online-gaming service,
Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions
of active users.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements:
Information in this press release that involves Blizzard
Entertainment's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies
regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not
facts and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Blizzard Entertainment generally uses
words such as "outlook," "will," "could," "would," "might,"
"remains," "to be," "plans," "believes," "may," "expects,"
"intends," "anticipates," "estimate," "future," "plan,"
"positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set
to," "subject to," "upcoming" and similar expressions to identify
forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Blizzard
Entertainment's actual future results to differ materially from
those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this
release include, but are not limited to, sales levels of Blizzard
Entertainment's titles, increasing concentration of titles, shifts
in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current
macroeconomic environment and market conditions within the video
game industry, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive
game market, declines in software pricing, product returns and
price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Blizzard
Entertainment's products, industry competition including from used
games and other forms of entertainment, litigation risks and
associated costs, rapid changes in technology, industry standards,
business models including online and used games, and consumer
preferences, including interest in specific genres such as real
time strategy, role playing and massively multiplayer online games,
protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of relationships with
key personnel, customers, licensees, licensors, vendors and
third-party developers, including the ability to attract, retain
and develop key personnel and developers who can create high
quality "hit" titles, counterparty risks relating to customers,
licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international
economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign
exchange rates and tax rates, potential challenges associated with
geographic expansion, and the other factors identified in the risk
factors sections of the most recent annual report on Form 10-K and
any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed
by Activision Blizzard, Inc., Blizzard Entertainment's parent
company. The forward-looking statements in this release are based
upon information available to Blizzard
Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date
of this release, and neither Blizzard
Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any
obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may
ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not
guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard
Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject
to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond
its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from
current expectations.

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